This invention relates to an extrusion former having threeway powered forming movement. The invention is useful for forming members, including tubular members, into complex, asymmetrical shapes as well as simpler, more conventional ones. The particular disclosure of this application is of a former intended to form extrusions into various shapes. The ability of the extrusion to be formed without crimping is enhanced both by placing the extrusion under tension to a point within the yield state of the extrusion and then "inflating" the extrusion with high pressure air to provide greater pressure resistance to the extrusion during the forming process.
Simple shapes can be formed into elongate members formed of a material such as steel or aluminum simply by holding the opposing ends of the member and then urging a die against the member. This procedure has been carried out in the past but is limited in its application. The present invention greatly increases the utility of forming as a means of metal fabrication in many industries such as automobile and aircraft manufacturers where complex asymmetrical shapes have been heretofore formed in a series of discrete steps on different machines or avoided altogether.